


Proximity

by PartyPikachu



Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half Life VR but the AI is sentient
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, University, University AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:00:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25595422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PartyPikachu/pseuds/PartyPikachu
Summary: Gordon Freeman’s first year of university becomes very interesting as he meets his dorm mate, Benry, and befriends new people. It’s all very normal at first, except for the tension between Gordon and Benry, until an old friend goes missing and Gordon wants to find out what happened. In the end, the only people Gordon can hang onto are his new found friends in the face of danger from threats both paranormal and physical.
Relationships: Benrey & Gordon Freeman, Bubby & Dr. Coomer (Half-Life)
Kudos: 22





	1. First Day

**Author's Note:**

> Even though this is my second fic posted to AO3, this is my very first fan fic that I’ve ever written. Thank you to Frootloops for being a beta reader.

It was a sweltering hot day with the sun high above in the sky and an orchestra of bugs chirping outside. Outside a dormitory building wearing glasses, an orange shirt, jeans, and some vans, stood Gordon. He had a long wavy ponytail and a beard. His complexion sunburnt from all of the time he spent outside working as an intern for the Forest Service over the summer. 

“I hope you love college!” Shouted his mom.

“Thanks, mom. I promise to make sure to visit you and Josh during the break”, replied Gordon.

A head peeked out of the back seat window, brown curly hair covering most of their head.  
“Gordon!” they yelled out, “can you tell me all about college when you visit?”

“Yeah of course lil’ dude!” Gordon said as he ruffled Joshua’s hair. 

“Be good to our mamas while I'm gone, Josh”

Josh shouted back a “you got it!”

Gordon then took his luggage out of the car and leaned into the window to kiss his mother.

“Love you, Gordon!”

Gordon signed “I Love You” to the car while it was pulling out of the parking lot. Gordon walked toward the dormitory building with luggage in his arms, gently nudging a slightly opened door with his foot to enter the building. “B 14…” Gordon muttered to himself trying to keep himself from forgetting his dorm number. when a voice piped up from behind.

“Oh! I know where that room is!”

Gordon was standing in a hallway with many doors leading dorms, with stairs to his left leading up. In a room next to him was a couch, a big tube tv, a coffee table, and some fake plants scattered around. On the couch sits a young man with black short hair forming a widow’s peak, his skin was a light brown and had plenty of freckles. He was skinny and much taller than Gordon. His clothes were a salmon-colored button-up shirt with a dinosaur pattern, some skinny jeans, and a pair of sneakers. His face was full of life and smiling with excitement. He got up from the couch and towards Gordon with an extended hand.

“My name’s Tommy! I'm the one who helps new students get used to dorm life.”

Gordon, trying not to have his luggage topple, slid his arm underneath the bags, and gently shook Tommy’s hand.

“I’m Gordon, it's nice to meet you. Can you show me where B14 is?”

“Of course, right this way!” Tommy exclaimed with enthusiasm as he walked quickly up the stairs and down the hall.

Gordon tried to match up with Tommy’s pace but the luggage and stairs made it hard to keep up. At the end of the hallway stood Tommy holding his hands together and fidgeting with them while he waited for Gordon to come. Gordon couldn't believe how fast Tommy walked down the hallway while he himself was starting to become a little short of breath.

When he made it to the door Tommy took out a master key from his pocket and unlocked it. “Here you go, Gordon. I hope you enjoy university here! When you’re done setting up, remember to come to me for the key to your dorm so you won’t get locked out.”

“I will, thank you” Gordon replied as he entered his dorm. 

The room was almost as small as the laundry room from his childhood home. Two beds were at each side of the room and two tables the size of a high school student’s desk. To say claustrophobic would have been an understatement to Gordon, to even be able to sleep in here seemed impossible. 

He let out a small sigh as he started to unpack and set up his corner of the room in hopes he could at least get the most of his limited space. It took Gordon a while but he got his own space set up, his bed made, school supplies ready, binders and notebooks stacked in a small spot between the end of the bed and the table, and a corkboard with pictures of many people from many different moments of his life. Down the hallway, Gordon could hear someone shouting,

“Yoooooo! Tommy! How ya been?”

“Uh, hi!”

Soon there was plenty of chatter between the two voices as they traveled down the hall. Gordon couldn’t understand most of it, but it sounded like they were both close friends, talking excitedly, glad to see each other again. 

Then the voices came to his door and as he turned around he saw Tommy with another man. He was really pale, as if he stayed inside all summer long, with dark circles under his eyes. His hair was medium length, thick and shaggy with black hair. He wore a light grey beanie, a baggy dark grey hoodie, cargo pants, and sandals with socks. Gordon couldn’t believe anyone would dress like that in the middle of August in New Mexico.

“Hey Gordon, this is my friend Benry. He’s gonna be your dorm mate.” Tommy said as he gestured to Benry and then to Gordon.

“Howdy, how are you doing?” Gordon greeted Benry with a small wave of the hand.

“Wassup,” Benry apathetically replied while removing one of his hands from his pocket to return Gordon’s wave. 

“So uh…” Gordon asked as he rubbed his neck trying to think of a quick icebreaker with his new roommate. “Are you new here?” 

“Nah” replied Benry

“Oh well uh, how long have you been here, then?”

“Uhhhhhhh I dunno, maybe like 3 or 4 years” Benry shrugged.

“So you’re a Senior?”

“Uh sure, I guess? I don’t really care that much.”

Gordon couldn’t believe this, someone who's able to go to university despite being in a poor town in the middle of nowhere, acts like it’s not that important. He stood there for a couple of seconds trying to think of a response, trying not to be an asshole, but all he could muster was an “Oh, okay then.”

Benry stood there being able to feel the tension in the room. This isn’t gonna be a good semester if he doesn’t watch what he says. 

“I uh, I’ll go get my… stuff then” he said as he shuffled down the hallway to his car.

-Shit shit shit. The first day and this random guy hates my guts.- Benry thought, this horrible feeling grew in the pit of his stomach. 

He knew that he was probably overblowing these negative feelings, but that didn’t stop him from feeling like he fucked up big time. Benry reached his car and got his luggage to his dorm room, where Gordon was still making little adjustments.

“Hey who’s that?” Benry pointed to a picture of a child held up by a 13-year-old in glasses and a small ponytail.

“Oh, that’s me and my Lil’ brother, Josh. I’m the one holding him up.” Gordon said as he pointed at himself in the photo.

“Oh, nice. Looks a bit shit tho” blurted from Benry’s mouth. He sat there trying not to scream as he realized what he said.

“Yeah, I- did you just say my brother looks a bit shit?”

“Uh no I meant y-you look uh-“

“Are you saying I look like shit?” 

“No no! You’re pretty hot now!”

“Excuse me?!”

“I- fuck. J-just pretend I didn’t say that!”

“What do you mean pretend!? You just called me shit and hot in the same conversation!” Gordon said while he used his hands to gesture to himself.

“Dude I dunno what the fuck I’m saying, I didn’t mean any of it!”

The two stood there in silence, Gordon couldn’t comprehend what Benry said. Benry was leaning against a wall with his hands covering his face in embarrassment from what came out of his mouth. 

“I need to uh… I need to go to orientation.” Gordon said as he grabbed a backpack and left. Obviously it was just an excuse for Gordon to leave this uncomfortable situation. 

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck!” Benry slid down and onto the floor, curled up after Gordon left the dorm room and was out of earshot. He didn’t know what to do except sit there and hyper-focus on the fact that he fucked up big time on his first day of the semester. Soon Tommy came to the door and knocked, “Are you okay in there?”

It took Benry a moment to think of how to respond, how can he explain to Tommy what happened? 

“I…” Benry let out a sigh of frustration “I’m not okay, man.”

“What happened?” Tommy asked while he pressed his face against the door to listen to Benry.

“I dunno how to explain what happened.”

“You wanna go to the car and talk to me about it there?”

“..... yeah, I just need to vent a little, man.”

Benry got himself up from the floor and opened the door. He and Tommy walked down the hallway and towards the parking lot.

“Did something happen to you and Gordon?” Tommy asked.

“Yeah, but I’ll tell you about it when we get in the car.”

Tommy and Benry came up to an old Volkswagen with a grey paint job and a boxy shape. Tommy entered through the passenger door while Benry climbed in the driver’s seat. He turned the car on and cranked up the AC, but the radio blasted music which caused Tommy to cover his ears in pain from the loud noise.

“Shit! Sorry!” Benry said as he turned the radio down.

“It’s okay” Tommy replied as he removed his hands from his ears. “So what happened, Benry?”

Benry gave a long sigh before answering, “So I fucked up on the first day. It started when I like told him about how long I’ve been here and when I mentioned that I didn’t really care and he seemed upset at that. I tried making it not feel super tense so I asked about a photo he had on his corkboard.”

“What did you say?”

“Eh I just asked him who the people in the photos were and he said it was him and his brother. My dumbass blurted out that his lil bro looked like shit, and he got upset so I tried fixing it by trying to say something about the camera quality or something but instead, I told him he looked like shit.”

“Oh,” Tommy added in, trying to show Benry that he was listening. 

“And he said something about how I just called him shit and I blurted out again how he looked hot now.”

Tommy slightly winced upon hearing that, “That… wow man that must suck.”

“I dunno what to do, man. He likely hates my fucking guts right now. This entire semester is gonna fucking suck, dude!” Benry said as he rested his head on the steering wheel.

“Oh! How about I see if we have room to move you to a different dorm? There’s usually room to do that.”

Benry looked up with a smile, “You can do that, man?”

“Yeah, it’s basically my job to make sure students get paired with people who they can share a space with.”

“You’re the best, Tommy.” Benry said as he gave a sigh of relief and put up a fistbump. Tommy gave Benry a fistbump and exited the car.

“Let’s get you a new dorm room.” Tommy said with enthusiasm as he walked towards the dormitory. 

Benry quickly shut off the car and got out to catch up with Tommy. They entered the building and Tommy went to a room at the back of the building with Benry right behind. Tommy opened a binder full of names and numbers and started going through the pages.

“Alrighty, let’s see what’s open this semester.” Tommy said as he kept on flipping through pages. 

The further in Tommy went into the binder the more his excited expression faded, he looked through every page moving his head trying to find any openings.

“Well shit. There’s no more rooms for you to be transferred to.” Tommy said as he closed the binder

“None? At all? Can’t you see if a student is willing to switch places?”

“I’m sorry Benry, but that would be against the rules and if I break them I could be removed from the student council, or even expelled.”

“What about your dorm? You have an empty bed, right?”

“No, Sunkist takes up that slot and I’d likely be given the same punishment as if I was switching you with a student. Only way for you to get to a new dorm would be a super special case. Like, Gordon tried killing you, special case.”

“Fuck.” Benry said as his head tilted up, putting a hand on his head, and leaned against the wall.

Shortly after Gordon left the dormitory building he wandered towards one of his first classes 30 minutes early. Gordon walked to a building at the other side of the campus. It was obvious that it was the science building seeing how there was a statue right outside of a DNA strand. 

As he entered the building it was obvious where much of the university’s funding went to. Plenty of modern and sleek furniture, walls covered in cases full of things ranging from different types of mineral samples to miniature models of machinery; the entire place had that futuristic Jetsons aesthetic, fitting for a place of science in 2002. Gordon, with only a backpack and an empty binder, sat around the building’s lodging area until the door to his first class opened. 

At the door was a man with dark brown skin and white hair, a mostly bald head save for the sides, and a moustache. The man was about 5’5 and was wide. He wore a lab coat, a green sweater, a brown vest, and a tie with bright colorful patterns. He wore slacks and black wingtip shoes. Gordon came towards the man and held out a hand for a shake. “Hello, I’m Gordon Freeman. I’m here for the physics lab.”

The man’s face lit up with a warm excitement as he grasped Gordon’s hand firmly. “Hello Gordon! My name is Doctor Coomer, but you can refer to me as simply Coomer!”

Gordon couldn’t help but notice how strong Coomer’s grip is and how enthusiastic the man seemed. Maybe today will end better than it started. 

“Go ahead and find a seat, I’ll get started once most students get in.” Coomer stated

Gordon found himself a seat at the front of the room and got his supplies ready. He looked around the room to see the usual science room decorations. A poster of the periodic table, an x-files “I want to believe” poster, and other things that are expected in a scientific themed room. After 15 minutes most of the class was present and sitting in their seats. He saw Tommy at the other side of the room at a desk where he had so many brightly colored school supplies, a fidget toy, and a golden retriever below the table resting. The dog had an orange vest that says “service dog, do not touch” and was bigger than usual for its breed. Dr. Coomer walked to the front of the class getting his big clunky computer running. “Hello class!” Coomer said gleefully in the exact same tone and cadence as when he greeted Gordon.

“Now today we will be going over the syllabus in order to get an understanding of what will be expected in this class, but before we do that I’ve noticed everyone is a bit spread out. I want you all to find a partner and get yourselves acquainted.”

The entire classroom was moving around, some murmurings amongst the students as they all passed each other to find a partner. 

“Oh hey Gordon, you wanna be partners?” Tommy asked

“Uh” Gordon thought for a second. He knows nobody else except for him and Benry, and he’d rather be with someone he’s certain he would get along with. 

“Sure,” Gordon said as he grabbed a chair next to Tommy. “So uh, how are you doing, man?” Gordon asked, hoping that Tommy didn’t hear what went down between him and Benry.

“Oh I’m doing fine.” Tommy said as he gave a smile. “So… how is your new roommate?” Tommy asked, hoping to see Gordon’s side of the story. He knew that the semester would be hell for Benry and Gordon if they didn’t get along. If he can at least find a way to ensure the two can at least be able to live in a single space for a couple months then everything should be okay.

“It uhhh… went okay.” Gordon said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Everything’s fine, you don’t have to worry.”

Tommy knew Gordon was lying, but any more prodding would probably make things worse. Tommy sat for a second, trying to figure out a good ice breaker. He then got an idea.

“Oh hey wanna meet my dog, Sunkist?” Asked Tommy.

“Oh yeah, I’d love to!” Gordon’s face lit up.

“C’mere, Sunkist.” Tommy said as he scooted his chair back and the dog came out from underneath the table with a gently wagging tail. “She’s my service animal, she helps me when I get overwhelmed by stuff.”

“Aw she must be such a good girl!” Gordon said as he reached a hand out but pulled away, remembering that he should ask first. “May I pet Sunkist?” 

“Oh yeah! She loves it when you pet behind her ears.” Replied Tommy

The entire class passed by as everyone read through the syllabus, with Tommy and Gordon chatting once in a while. The class was very short, all that Coomer did was take attendance, add any waitlisted students, and paraphrase what the syllabus papers said. Gordon noticed the part at the end describing the final was gone.

Gordon raised his hand.

“Yes Gordon, you need something?”

“Uh yeah, Dr. Coomer, the syllabus is missing parts about the final.”

“Oh they’re not missing Mr. Freeman, I just don’t really have finals in this class. I think it’s silly having people perform under needlessly immense pressure to pass class on the last day of classes. But since it is legally required I simply have the class write whatever they want and turn it in for one point.” Coomer said nonchalantly.

Gordon was surprised by Coomer’s statement, he was expecting massive amounts of expectations and a strict learning environment, but instead the entire place just felt… nice. It was strange not having people expect him to do so much.

“Is there anything else you’d like to ask, Gordon?” Asked the professor.

“Oh no, thanks.” Replied Gordon.

“Well in that case class is dismissed. I hope you all have a wonderful first day of classes.”

Gordon and Tommy got their stuff packed and left the classroom. 

“Hey Gordon?”

“Yeah?”

“What’re you majoring in?” Tommy asked inquisitively.

“Oh I’m gonna major in science, specifically astrophysics.”

“Oh cool! Are you gonna be a rocket scientist?”

“Not really, I’m more interested in things like rovers and satellites. What’s your major?”

“I’m majoring in psychology. I wanna be a therapist and help people.”

“That’s actually pretty admirable that you wanna help people, Tommy.”

“Thanks, I just enjoy making others happy and people say I’m real good with emotional stuff.” 

Gordon and Tommy walked around the campus doing nothing but talking and infodumping about their interests. They both only had one class on Monday so they had the entire day to themselves to infodump and learn about eachother.

It was 8 PM and Benry was laying in bed. He had everything set up and was playing Pokémon Sapphire on his gameboy advance. Then he heard the jingle of keys and the door unlocking, causing Benry to quickly put the gameboy under his pillow and turned to the side pretending to be asleep so he wouldn’t have to talk to Gordon and make things worse. Benry laid there for a while, listening to Gordon put his stuff away, then the lights turned off. Benry just laid there for what felt like 30 minutes until he started to hear Gordon snoring.

-Holy shit, how does he fall asleep like that?- Benry thought to himself. 

It was strange seeing people being able to quickly fall asleep when he needed medications to help. He rolled himself to face Gordon and saw him lying there, and Benry couldn’t help but notice how even in his sleep he still looked… handsome. Benry pulled his beanie over his eyes in embarrassment, realizing that he likely doesn’t have a chance with Gordon after what happened today. Benry just laid there, feeling himself starting to fall asleep to the sound of the chirping crickets outside and Gordon’s snores.


	2. Making Do

Gordon’s alarm went off with its usual loud beeping. He slapped his hand onto the snooze button and sat up, rubbing his eyes and adjusting to the bright morning sunlight filling the dorm. Benry was laying on his side and didn’t even move from the sound of the alarm. 

“How the fuck does he do that?” Gordon muttered as he grabbed his clothes and headed into the bathroom to get himself ready for class. 

He did the usual routine of brushing through his long wavy hair, brushing his teeth, and so on. When he finished and walked out he saw Benry was sitting up playing on his gameboy.

“You seriously play games the moment you wake up?” Gordon asked in disbelief.

“Huh? What?” Benry said as he looked up at Gordon.

“You seriously pla-“ Gordon started speaking again before he was cut off.

“Oh yeah I do it so I can actually wake up and not like fall back asleep.”

Gordon just stood there for a second trying to understand Benry. 

“You know what, I’ll just let you do your thing, man.” Gordon said with a slightly defeated tone as he picked up his backpack and left the room.

Benry sat there for a second, trying to understand what he did wrong to make Gordon act like that. He just woke up and yet already feels like shit.

“What the fuck is this guy’s problem?” Benry said to himself. 

No matter what it felt like Gordon would always see something wrong with Benry or what he did. He sat there for a while, trying to distract himself from the emotional pain he was feeling. He finally had enough motivation to get up from his bed and take his Ritalin right before he went into the bathroom to get ready for class. Beney looked into the mirror and took a close look at his face, rubbing his hand through what little facial hair he had.

“Nice.”

He then lifted his shirt to change into a fresh one for the day, taking a moment to inspect the two nearly identical scars on his chest. The aftermath of a much-needed surgery a few months ago.

“Can’t wait to finally go outside without a shirt.”

He got himself dressed and combed through his hair right before he put his beanie on and walked out of the door. 

Gordon was walking around the campus trying to figure out where the computer science class is. The map that was given to him by the office was of no help. He wandered around the campus for a while when suddenly a “Hello Gordon!” Came from behind.

Gordon turned around to see it was Dr. Coomer behind him with his usual warm smile.

“Oh hey Dr. Coomer, can you help me find room S15?” 

“Oh certainly! I’m actually going there right now!” Replied Coomer

“Oh cool, thank you, Dr. Coomer.” Gordon said as he started to follow Coomer.

“So why are you heading towards the computer science lab?” Gordon asked Coomer.

“Oh I’m visiting my boyfriend! He’s such a wonderful man, I bet you’ll love his class!” Coomer said with a big smile on his face.

They both walked into the science building and through a hallway with Coomer leading Gordon. The two of them then entered a room that was lined with computers with big clunk monitors and keyboards, many in varying condition.

“Hello, honey!” Coomer shouted gleefully as he ran up to a man close to Coomer’s age. 

His hair was mostly bald with what little tufts were left on the sides of his head. His skin was light and covered in lots of blemishes along with a small scar on the bridge of his nose. He wore a simple full sleeve button-up shirt with a red tie and a lab coat, some khakis, and black shoes. The man quickly turned around and a smile grew on his face when he saw Coomer.

“Ah, Harold! I was wondering when you would visit. How’s my beautiful man doing?”

“Oh absolutely wonderful, Bubby! And how’s the love of my life?” Coomer said as he put his arms around Bubby.

“Oh doing well, getting things set up for the students.” Replied Bubby.

“Oh! Speaking of students, let me introduce you to Gordon! He’s a freshman who is also in my class.”

“Freshman, eh?” Bubby said as he looked over to Gordon. “Don’t worry about the first week, there’s plenty of time for college life to grind you down!” Chuckled Bubby.

Gordon stood there for a moment not knowing how to respond to Bubby as it was hard to tell if what he said was a joke or a serious statement.

“Aw don’t listen to Bubby, Gordon. He always makes jokes like that, but he’s the sweetest man I know.” Coomer said as he gave Bubby a hard pat on the back, causing Bubby to momentarily lose balance.

“Ah yes, I may be a bit more strict than Coomer, but you won’t have to worry about that as long as you do your work and pay attention, Gordon. Why don’t you get yourself a seat at one of the computers and get yourself familiar. You know how to use a computer, right?” Bubby while giving Gordon a side glance.

“Uh yeah, I know a little bit. Like how to use the mouse and keyboard.” Replied Gordon.

Bubby stood there putting his hands together, in his thoughts for a second.

“You know what Gordon, maybe don’t try messing around with the computer. I’ll help you and other students understand how to use it.” Bubby said.

“Uh… okay.” Gordon replied.

Gordon hated being talked down to but since this wasa class he was required to pass he just had to sit there and not let it get to him. Gordon took a seat at a random computer and got his stuff set up. Soon more students started entering the class and taking their seats.

“Oh hun I have to get ready for class.” Bubby said as he gave Coomer a kiss. “I’ll make sure to visit you when I’m done.”

“Aw alright my little hubby Bubby, I’ll see you later.” Coomer said right before giving Bubby a little peck on the cheek, causing Bubby to give a giant smile.

Coomer then walked out of the room with his big goofy grin as more students came in through the doors.

Benry walked in through the classroom door, “what’s up Bubby.” He said as he sat down at a computer on the far left side of the class.

He started getting the computer up and running when he looked to his right to see Gordon at the other end of the row of computers. He stared at Gordon for a bit, seeing him setting himself up, but quickly faced away when Gordon looked at him.

“Oh shit, why did I have to have the same class as him.” Benry said to himself as he fiddled with the computer, pretending to be doing something.

-Oh for fucks sake, PLEASE have that not be him.- Gordon thought to himself as he put a hand to his forehead. He already had to deal with Benry in the dorm, why the fuck does he have the misfortune of sharing a class with him.

Bubby took to the front of the classroom, “good morning, class! Today we will go over our syllabus and then do a basic introduction on how to use a computer. Does anyone have any questions before we start?”

The class sat there silent as students looked to each other wondering if someone was gonna break the silence, but nobody said anything.

“Well then… first let us go through our syllabus…” Bubby said as he got out a massive pile of papers.

The beginning of class was a blur to Benry as all he did was daydream and mess around on the computer taking a low quality jpeg of a koala and constantly making it look more and more pixelated by shrinking and stretching the image in MS Paint. Then Benry heard a loud and sudden “ahem” from behind him, in a familiar voice and tone. He turned around to see Bubby standing there with his arms crossed giving him a stern look.

“Oh hey.” Benry said.

Bubby gave out a sigh while he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Benry, you have been in my class so many times, you should know by now how to act accordingly.”

“What are you talking about? I’m not doing anything.” Benry said.

“That’s exactly my point. Just… come talk to me after class.” Bubby said before leaving Benry to do his own thing.

Gordon was working on his assignment of getting himself used to computers when Gordon felt a slight pressure on the back of his chair. Gordon turned around and jumped a little when he saw Bubby. “Oh crap!”

“I- Uh I’m sorry Dr. Bubby I didn’t see you there.”

“I didn’t know I was that terrifying.” Bubby said before giving a small laugh. “How has learning the computer been for you?”

“It’s uh-uh doing alright.” Gordon said

Bubby was so… unnerving up close. He was so lanky and his eyes, they didn’t really seem to have color in them. And whenever Bubby talked it looked as if he had sharp teeth. That along with the lack of personal space made this interaction much more uncomfortable.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it, then.” Bubby said as he walked away from Gordon’s desk.

Gordon looked over to Benry to see him messing around on the computer playing… Neopets? How the hell does he not even care about this class? Actually, how the hell is a senior still in this class? Benry made absolutely no sense to Gordon, and thinking more and more about it got Gordon even more upset at the fact that Benry was able to waste so much time and money in university while he had to go through a student lottery to even get in. Gordon forced himself back to his work so he wouldn’t stay angry about his situation.

The class passed by like a blur and everyone walked out of class to do other things for the day. 

Benry was on his way out when he heard someone call his name, it was Bubby standing at his desk.

“I need to have a chat with you.” Said Bubby.

Benry hated this part, every beginning and end of a semester Bubby would give him a talk about needing to pass classes and move on with life. Benry stood at Bubby’s desk ready for the lecture.

“Benry…” Bubby said as he pushed his glasses up.

“I know you’re a smart person and I’ve seen what you make, you obviously have the ability to pass all classes you take, but you never do. We’ve done this multiple times, Benry, so why won’t you tell me why you’re failing on purpose?”

Benry stood there for a second in silence, what can he say? He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out, he couldn’t get a single word out of his throat. After a while of trying to speak the only words Benry could say were “I uh…”

Bubby rubbed his temples and gave a sigh.

“Benry… you need to figure out what you want to do. You won’t have this time forever. I know you can do so much… you may leave now.”

Benry walked out the door and put his earbuds into his MP3 player and walked back towards his dorm. Halfway back to his dorm Benry heard a faint “hey”. He turned around to see Gordon walking up to him. Benry removed his earbuds to see what Gordon was going to say to him.

“Hey man, I uh need to talk to you.”

Benry could feel the pit of his stomach when he heard those words. 

“Uh yeah? What’s up?” Benry said while trying to hide his anxiety, with his entire body tensing up.

“If we are going to live in the same small, enclosed room, we are going to need to get along or we are gonna end up killing each other.” Gordon said as he put a hand on Benry’s shoulder.

Benry kinda stood there not knowing what to do as he is processing his anxiety and the fact that Gordon is touching him and does not know how to react.

Gordon noticed Benry was starting to get uncomfortable and removed his hand. “Oh shit sorry man.”

“It’s uh… okay bro.”

“Uh anyways.” Gordon said as he put his hand on the back of his neck.

“We need to find a way to be able to live together. So uh… how about we agree to do this. I won’t make any comments about you or what you do if you don’t make any comments about me or anything related to me. Does that sound like something you wanna agree with?”

“Uh….. yeah… sure.” Benry said

“Alright… good. See you later man.”

Gordon headed off to his next class while Benry stood there for a second trying to get his nerves under control as he put his earbuds back in.

“H-holy shit man.” 

Benry said as he took a shaky breath. That was one of the most tense moments in his entire life. Benry then walked all the way back to his dorm where he pulled off his hoodie and slid into his bed. He started up his gameboy again and continued playing for half an hour, until he started hearing something from the bathroom. It sounded like something…. tapping on glass? He turned down the music coming from his gameboy and listened… 

*Tap tap tap…*

“What the fuck?”

Benry got up and switched on the bathroom light.

*TAP TAP TAP TAP*

It was coming from the mirror. Benry’s eyes widened a little realizing where the noise was coming from and not even certain if he should look. He had seen so many horror films where some dude gets jump scared by something in the mirror, but this is real life. There were no monsters or scary ghosts that could hurt him, what was the worst that could happen?

Benry stepped over to where the mirror is and looked to see what was causing that noise. In the mirror was…. just his reflection. He waved his hand to see if there really is something spooky in the mirror but everything looked normal. 

Until he realized he just saw his reflection blink. This caused Benry to jump and run out of the bathroom and into his dorm room like a startled cat. He slammed close the door and grabbed a baseball bat nestled right next to the doorway of the hallway, ready to attack whatever the hell came out of that mirror. He stood there for what felt like half an hour ready to fight but nothing came out. It was completely silent in the dorm room except for Benry’s heavy breathing. 

Benry re-entered the bathroom holding up a bat ready to look into the mirror to see what kind of monstrosity was there. He walked into view to see only himself standing there. Benry waved his hand around again and stared attentively trying to see if his reflection did anything weird. Everything was completely normal, but the room still felt heavy as if there was something there. 

“I-it’s just my paranoia… t-that’s all.” Benry said as he left the bathroom and put the baseball bat back.

He went back to play on his gameboy when he started feeling hungry. That was weird, it shouldn’t be lunch by now. Benry looked over to Gordon’s alarm clock to see that it was 5:32 PM. 

-Holy shit, how the fuck did that happen?- Benry thought to himself.

Benry decided to shrug it off and got himself ready to go out to town for a meal. While walking down the hallway Tommy catched up with him.

“Hey Benry!”

“Hey bro, wassup?” Benry said as he gave a fistbump.

“Oh nothing much, wanted to say hi before I got dinner with Gordon.”

“Oh cool. Hey uh Tommy, you wanna come with me to grab some food? I’ll pay.”

“Oh I don’t know, Gordon might not want to.”

“Well why not go ask him?”

“Alright, I’ll go ask.” Tommy said as he went into his dorm.

Benry could hear some of the conversation down the hall.

Gordon was hanging out in Tommy’s dorm petting Sunkist when Tommy entered the doorway.

“Hey Gordon, you wanna go into town with me and Benry to go get dinner?”

“Uh I dunno, I don’t want to like ruin the night by being with Benry.”

“Aw come on, Gordon. Benry’s not that bad of a guy, maybe if you’re in someplace that isn’t a dorm you two might get along.” Tommy said

Gordon sat there for a moment thinking about whether or not it’s a good idea to risk being annoyed by Benry. On one hand Benry could end up being insufferable, but on the other Benry can end up being an okay person.

“He said he’s gonna pay for dinner.” Tommy said

“Well okay, then. I’ll uh go get my jacket.” Said Gordon.

Gordon went into the dorm to get himself ready and then down the hallway to meet up with Benry.

“You uh sure about paying for my food?” Gordon said, he always asked due to feeling bad whenever someone bought something for him.

“I don’t mind at all dude, come on I’ll drive us to my favorite restaurant.” Benry said as he played with the car keys in his hand.

“Gimme a sec, I need to get Sunkist ready.” Tommy said as he peeked his head out of the dorm to get Sunkist in her vest and leash.

“Alright, let’s go.” To my said as he caught up with the two.

They all got into the car and started driving into the town. The further away from the university they went, the more run down the town looked.

“Damn… I didn’t know it got that bad.” Benry said glancing off the road to look at the boarded up businesses.

“Yeah everything has been getting worse since they put in the new highway…” Gordon said.

“They put in a highway?” Benry replied.

“Yeah man. You haven’t seen it?” Asked Gordon.

“No… not really, I’ve been staying in Springsvale since I moved.” Benry said.

“How’s that place?” Tommy asked.

“It’s fucking crazy. Like there’s a mall there, a giant movie theater, and a whole lot more shit there that this town doesn’t have.”

“Oh… so you’re not even from here?” Gordon asked, trying to hide a judgemental tone.

“Oh no, I grew up here all my life. I moved away over the summer cuz my dad got like a bunch of money from a book he wrote.” Benry said in his usual apathetic tone.

Gordon couldn’t believe it, this dude is rich as hell, lives in Springsvale, and wastes all of it in college?

“I bet it must be real nice there.” Gordon said in an annoyed tone.

Tommy looked to see Gordon slouching with his arms crossed and he had to think of a quick distraction.

“Hey Benry?”

“Wassup?”

“Can I turn on the radio?”

“Yeah sure man.”

Tommy turned on the car stereo and gently moved the knob to get it onto a radio station. Blink 182 was playing on the radio.

Benry pulled up to a boarded up building with shock on his face.

“Noooo!”

Gordon quickly sat up, wondering what caused Benry to shout.

“What’s wrong?”

“They closed down Lucky Nacho! I fucking loved that place dude!”

“Benry, if you haven’t noticed, most businesses in this fucking town are close down. How about we go to a restaurant that isn’t closed. There’s plenty of them near the university.” Gordon said, not putting up with Benry.

“Yeah… you’re right. Uh sorry for screaming.” Benry said as he pulled the car out.

It took them a while to find a restaurant they can all agree on to eat at. It was some pizza parlor that was one of the most pretentious looking places ever with Edison light bulbs hanging from the ceiling and the furniture being all iron and wood, but this was the only place they could eat at that served something resembling food.

They all got their table and ordered their food, the drinks all came in tacky mason jars. The entire restaurant was empty besides the three of them, four if you include Sunkist. Everyone sat there in silence for a while not knowing what to say to get a conversation started.

“So uh what are you majoring in, Gordon?” Benry asked.

“Astro physics.”

“Oh cool you’re gonna be an astronaut?”

“Uh no, I’m planning on working on rovers and satellites.”

“Nice.”

“What about you?”

“Well I was thinking of being like a programmer and make games but I dunno if I won’t end up hating the job, though.” Benry said as he shrugged.

“Hey Gordon,” Tommy butted in.

“Yeah?”

“You wanna tell Benry about the new rover they’re gonna send to Mars?”

Gordon’s face lit up with excitement when he heard those words and he gave a smile when he started talking.

“Well the rover’s name is Odyssey and it’s gonna be the first rover in history to explore the surface of Mars.”

Benry looked up from his drink and started listening to Gordon, even though he couldn’t understand everything Gordon said, it sounded like something he loved talking about. Benry continued to watch Gordon and didn’t realize that there was a smile growing on his face.

Gordon looked over to Benry and saw he was resting his head on his hands, watching Gordon with a big goofy smile. It was weird seeing him listen so closely when most of Gordon’s experiences with Benry was him not listening to what he had to say. Gordon continued to talk all about the Odyssey rover when they were interrupted by the server bringing out their pizza.

Gordon was ready to grab a slice when he saw the pizza itself, it was as flat as a tortilla and barely had any crust. Gordon didn’t mind a greasy pizza, but this one was swimming in nothing but grease. He hesitantly put a slice onto his plate to see if the pizza tasted better than it looked.

Gordon took a bite of the pizza and… it barely tasted like anything. The cheese had no flavor except for the grease and the pepperoni was barely noticeable, but considering that it’s better to eat something than to try to decide where to eat for another 15 minutes, he didn’t mind so much.

Tommy gladly grabbed slices of the pizza and started scarfing them down like they were nothing. Pizza was always good, regardless of quality to him.

Benry was also eating plenty of pizza slices, it wasn’t long until the three of them finished off the pizza as they sat there content with their meal.

Benry then got his bill for the meal and his eyes squinted a bit, with him trying to be certain it really was that much.

“Wow…” Benry said as he pulled out his wallet

“What’s up?” Gordon asked

“40 dollars for the pizza, not including drinks.”

“Are you serious?” Tommy scoffed

“Yeah. I uh, think we’d be better off going to the cafeteria next time.” Benry said as he placed money onto the bill.

“Yeah… honestly the pizza kinda sucked.” Gordon said as he leaned back a bit on his chair.

“I mean pizza’s pizza.” Tommy said with a shrug.

“Yeah if it isn’t like 40 bucks.” Benry said as he laid back in his chair, trying to find a comfortable way to hold the mason jar glass to sip his drink.

Tommy was relaxing in his chair as he gently petted Sunkist underneath the table, feeding her a piece of his left over crust.

“You guys wanna head back and just hang out?” Tommy asked.

“Sure.” Gordon said as he stretched his arms and yawned

“Yeah, I got some DVDs we can watch back in my dorm.” Tommy said while taking a look at his digital wrist watch.

They all got up and left after Benry paid for the meal and got back into the car. It was strange to Benry coming back to Redwater and seeing the town changing so much ever since he moved to Springsvale. It felt like the place was becoming a ghost town with all of the closed down businesses with the university being its last life support. And once the town is gone… then everything Benry had would be gone. It felt depressing, knowing that the place he had such a close bond with was disappearing along with any trace of his existence. 

“Hey uh, Benry?” Asked Tommy.

Benry snapped out of his thoughts, “huh? What’s up?”

“Aren’t you going to drive us back?”

“Oh uh… yeah sorry.” Benry said as he started the car and drove back.

They made it to the dorm and all headed into Tommy’s room.

The room itself felt less cramped than Benry and Gordon’s despite it being the exact same size, but that could be due to the fact that Tommy only shared it with Sunkist, and dogs didn’t need that much stuff. The walls had bright neon posters taped on and a green lava lamp sat on the nightstand. 

“I hope you don’t mind the room, I just usually like bright stuff.” Tommy said as he quickly nudged a stuffed animal of his underneath the bed with his foot.

“Oh it’s fine Tommy. I think it’s pretty cool with the posters.” Benry said as he looked around the room.

“Thanks.” Tommy said as he opened a cardboard box with the words “movies” written on the side in sharpie.

Tommy got the DVD collection out and ready for picking while Benry sat on the extra bed and Gordon grabbed a tiny office chair to sit on. The DVDs he pulled out were The Land Before Time, Men in Black 1, and Toy Story 2.

“Alright so here’s the films I think you guys would like.” Tommy said as he turned the DVD player on.

“Uhhh I’ve never seen the Land Before Time so I guess that.” Gordon said

“Yo Land Before Time slaps, bro. Like it’s fucking amazing, dude.” Benry said as he leaned back on the bed.

“Well I guess Land Before Time it is. Oh, before I forget, Benry, can you grab some sodas from the fridge.” Tommy said as he pointed at the mini fridge on the end of the bed.

“Yeah bro. Uhhh what flavor?” Benry said as he leaned off the side of the bed on his stomach, peering inside the fridge. “We got Sunkist, Mountain Dew, and a Pibb.”

“I’ll take a Sunkist, please.” Tommy said

“Pibb for me.” Gordon said

“Aight, here you go.” Benry said as he handed everyone their sodas.

Benry pushed himself up with a Mountain Dew in his hand. Tommy already got the DVD running as it went through the movie previews.

“Yo did you know that, like, there was gonna be a sequel to the film.” Benry said as he took a sip.

“Aw man, really? That would have been cool to see.” Tommy said as he leaned his back against the wall on his bed.

The night passed as they all relaxed and watched the film about talking dinosaurs. Halfway through Benry started talking about his interest in dinosaurs and what they would actually look like.

“Alright dude, did you know that a raptor would likely be an oversized chicken?” Benry said with a 5th soda in his hand.

“No way, man. I don’t fucking believe you.” Gordon said.

“Oh no, Benry’s right!” Tommy added in.

“No fucking way! Raptors are apex predators, they are not vegetarian chickens!” Gordon said while talking with his hands.

“Dude… chickens hunt.” Benry said.

“No, no they don’t. You’re fucking with me.” Gordon said.

“No, they do. I’ve seen them hunt and kill things like mice and lizards.” Benry said trying to explain to Gordon that chickens do eat meat.

“They do eat meat, Mr. Freeman.” Tommy said.

“I want you to prove it.” Gordon said, not believing a single word Tommy or Benry said.

“Well how the fuck are we gonna do that? You want us to just go find a random chicken and have you watch it?” Tommy asked after taking a chug of his soda.

“I dunno man, you’re the one who has to prove it.”

“Wait, wait, wait. How about we just look it up online. Or ask Bubby cuz he and Coomer own chickens.” Benry said.

Gordon did not want to ask Bubby as he knew it would end with Bubby talking down to him about how obvious the answer should have been to him, regardless if Gordon was right or wrong.

“Alright, let’s see what the internet says!” Gordon said

“Alright.” Benry said

“Uh… isn’t the library closed by now?” Tommy asked

“Oh… right.” Gordon said.

They sat there for a bit in the room with only the sound of the movie disrupting the silence.

”I bet Coomer would know.” Benry said as he took a sip.

“Yeah… he has an entire garden and everything.” Tommy replied.

“Yo doesn’t he also like, give people zucchini in class because he always grows too much?” Benry said

“Yeah he does. He brought chicks into the class one time and we sat around and played with them.” 

Gordon sat there listening to the both of them talking about Bubby and Coomer.

“Man, I remember when Bubby got real pissed once. I like accidentally got a laptop infected while uh…”

“While you were what?”

“Looking at… stuff…”

Tommy let out a snort right before going into a full burst of laughter.

“YOU WERE USING A SCHOOL LAPTOP TO LOOK AT PORN?!” Tommy squealed out with laughter.

“NO DUDE! IT WASN’T THAT! I FIND THAT SHIT GROSS!” Benry shouted with red filling his face.

“Th-“ Tommy interrupted himself with a laugh, “then why were you so vague?! And what were you looking at that caused the laptop to get infected?”

“I… I dunno man…” Benry said as he pulled his beanie over his eyes in embarrassment.

Gordon was loving this, it was like seeing a train crash with watching Benry becoming as red as a tomato and Tommy laughing his ass off.

“Okay… so I was looking to like… download some music and I got a virus…” Benry said, trying to move past what Tommy said.

“Okay but which song?” Gordon asked

“What? What does that have to do with my story-“ Benry asked before he got cut off.

“I need to know if I can be with a roommate that has tolerable music choice.” Gordon said while laughing.

Benry sat there for a moment unable to decide what to do. First time there wasn’t any tension between him and Gordon and the night got soured by Tommy’s comment and now Gordon’s laughing at him.

Gordon saw that Benry wasn’t finding this situation funny at all and he started to feel bad for him.

“Hey man, don’t beat yourself up over it. We’re just having a little fun, that’s all.”

Gordon said, hoping it would help Benry feel better.

“Uh…. thanks….” Benry replied.

It didn’t really help with the feeling of embarrassment, but what Gordon said was better than nothing.

Everyone sat around for a moment in an awkward silence when Tommy spoke up.

“So… are we gonna ask Bubby and Coomer if chickens eat meat tomorrow since the library is closed now?”

“Oh yeah, I can ask Coomer tomorrow.” Gordon said

Tommy peeked at his wrist watch.

“Aw shit.” Tommy said

“What’s up, Tommy?” Benry asked

“It’s 1 AM and I got a class at 8.” Tommy replied.

“Oh shit me too.” Gordon added in.

“I’m sorry man, I kept you up late.” Benry said.

“Aw no you’re fine, I should have been paying closer attention to the time.” Tommy said as he got up and started to clean up his room.

“Thanks for uh having us over, Tommy.” Gordon said as he picked up his cans and put them into the trash can.

Benry got up and crushed his empty cans with his hands before putting them into the trash can. “Thanks for letting me hang out, man.” Benry said as he walked back to his dorm, which was right across from Tommy’s dorm.

Benry entered the room, took off his hoodie, kicked off his pants and shoes, took his medication, and hopped into bed where he laid back and started reading an issue of Thrasher Magazine.

Gordon soon came into the dorm and got himself into his pajamas, which were sweatpants and a t- shirt. Right before Gordon turned off the lights, he saw Benry was reading.

“Oh hey man, is it okay if I turn off the lights?” Gordon asked

“Huh? Oh yeah sure. I got this little glow in the dark thing that’ll let me read.” Benry said as he pulled out a small, green, plastic dinosaur toy.

Gordon couldn’t believe Benry uses a glow in the dark toy to read things in the dark. Maybe a small book light, sure, but a glow in the dark toy? Benry made no sense to Gordon, but besides the times Benry came off as a privileged person who doesn’t appreciate what they have, sometimes… Benry can be a bit endearing with his antics.

“Alright, night man.” Gordon said as he flipped the switch off.

He laid in bed, seeing Benry holding up his glowing dinosaur toy up to the magazine as Gordon himself started to drift asleep.

It took Benry an hour until he himself could actually fall asleep for once, clutching his sheets as if he was hugging something.


End file.
